The following relates to the electrical device maintenance arts, electrical demand response arts, and related arts.
In conventional electrical power grid management, electrical power generation is controlled to match the current power demand. This approach requires making adequate provision for peak load by providing a source of excess power generating capacity, for example by providing ancillary generators that are brought on-line at peak demand hours. The excess power generating capacity is not used except during peak demand periods, and usually represents a net cost for the utility provider. Other approaches for matching generation to demand include shifting power between geographical grid regions, which again usually represents a net cost to the utility due to transmission line losses and so forth.
In demand response systems, loads (i.e. demand) are adjusted to match the available power generation. This approach can be cost effective since the utility can provide less excess power generating capacity. By way of illustrative example, Kirby, “Spinning Reserve From Responsive Loads”, Oak Ridge National Laboratory ONRL/TM-2003/19 (Mar. 2003) discloses loads that are aggregated to operate as a contingency reserve, e.g. spinning reserve. The loads may be air conditioners, water heaters, or so forth. A wireless communication network including the Internet is employed to send curtailment commands to thermostats which respond by taking immediate action or adjusting their schedules for future action. The thermostats collect data on temperature, set point, and power consumption on a minute-by-minute basis, and these data are reported to the utility.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has codified incentivizing demand response systems in Order No. 745 issued Mar. 2011, which mandates compensation for providers of demand response participating in the wholesale power marketplace. FERC Order No. 745 directs that “when a demand response resource participating in an organized wholesale energy market administered by an RTO or ISO has the capability to balance supply and demand as an alternative to a generation resource and when dispatch of that demand response resource is cost-effective as determined by the net benefits test described herein, that demand response resource must be compensated for the service it provides to the energy market at the market price for energy, referred to as the locational marginal price (LMP).” FERC Order No. 755 provides similar provisions pertaining to ancillary services.
The mandated benefit is directed to the aggregator, which in turn must recruit and retain loads owned by third parties (e.g., residences or small businesses) to participate in the aggregation of loads. These third parties typically must also be compensated, which reduces the net profit earned by the aggregator.